Last week, the Vapor Technology Association ran ads stating its opposition to illegally imported Chinese vapes, citing the risk they pose to children, despite its leadership and the organization itself having strong financial ties to the manufacturers of those same devices.

The VTA, the primary U.S. trade association representing e-cigarette manufacturers and vendors, began a seven-figure ad campaign on July 14 to advocate a “crackdown on illicit Chinese vapor products that target youth … while protecting the responsible, adult-oriented vapor products sold by American small businesses.” What went unsaid in the VTA’s ads is that the trade association has received large sums of cash from the manufacturers of those illegal vapes, its board members profit from their sale, and that many of the organization’s retail members depend on such illicit vapes to stock their shelves.

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Among the most popular manufacturers of illicit Chinese vape products in the United States is Geek Vape with its flagship product, the Geek Bar. Nearly $600 million worth of product from the China-based vape manufacturer was sold in U.S. convenience stores and supermarkets during 2024, according to the market research firm Circana. The Food and Drug Administration has specifically cited Geek Bars when warning retailers against selling “youth appealing e-cigarettes.”

Geek Bars come in a variety of flavors, such as “OMG Blow Pop” and “Blue Razz Ice,” which critics have argued are designed to appeal to children. Additionally, the bars sport flashy displays that have proven popular among minors — evidenced by young TikTok users showing off the bright lights on their vapes and racking up hundreds of thousands of views.

In the VTA’s own words, vapes that utilize “video games, apps, and cartoon imagery” to market themselves to children should face federal scrutiny.

RifBar and Lost Vape, two of the VTA’s onetime members, manufacture products that fit this description. RifBar’s vapes, for example, come preloaded with apps, while Lost Vape draws upon the aesthetics of the popular video game Cyberpunk 2077 to market its nicotine. VTA executive director Tony Abboud told the Washington Examiner that RifBar and Lost Vape were no longer members of his organization. An archived VTA webpage listed the duo of vape companies as members as late as March.

Geek Vape, as of July 2020, was a “platinum board member” of the VTA, which, according to the organization’s website, denotes a membership dues payment of $200,000. Many of the retailers who pay dues to keep the lights on at the VTA market Geek Bars as featured products. Among vendors that were listed as VTA members in March and sold Geek Bars are a mix of large online retailers and brick-and-mortar shops such as Vapor Lounge, Element Vape, Red Star Vapor, White Horse Vapor, Kingdom Vapor, and Vaportech Wholesale. The VTA collects between $500 and $200,000 in dues payments from its business members, depending on their tier.

Entanglement with Geek Vape goes all the way to the top at the VTA. Element Vape is owned by VTA board member Kenny Sy, and Red Star Vapor is owned by John Paul Willett, who is listed as a board member on the organization’s most recent tax filing but doesn’t appear on the VTA’s website. In addition to selling Geek Bars, many of these shops, including those owned by VTA leadership, also offer products adorned with cartoonish imagery or preloaded with apps, features the VTA argues should be regulated.

VTA Secretary Jon Glauser owns a business-to-business vape wholesaling company that deals in Geek Bars. New York City sued his company in 2023 for allegedly violating federal and state law by distributing flavored vapes. New York state filed another suit against his company, Demand Vape, in February, advancing similar allegations. Glauser told a federal judge in 2022 that he had sold more than $132 million worth of Elf Bar e-cigarettes, another disposable Chinese vape accused of targeting children.

In 2018, the VTA announced that Heaven Gifts, the company that manufactures Elf Bars, had joined its ranks as a member. Glauser has taken credit for securing hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions for the VTA from Chinese vape manufacturers, according to his Facebook account.

Abboud argued in an interview with the Washington Examiner that the FDA’s efforts to restrict flavored vapes are arbitrary, harmful to U.S. businesses, and largely a continuation of Biden-era policymaking.

“Right now, we have the current FDA commissioner who is in lockstep with Biden and out of step with Trump,” Abboud said. “In our opinion, he is apparently happy to shut down the American vaping industry in the process. And what we’re losing sight of is the fact that the regulation itself is killing not just brand owners who are American companies that make their vapes in China, but even the American e-liquid companies who are dependent. The entire vaping industry is 100% dependent on Chinese manufacturing, because that is where virtually all vape devices are made and where the e-cigarette was frankly invented. This includes the companies that the FDA has authorized.”

Abboud also said marketing techniques designed to attract children, not flavored smoke on its own, are what the administration should focus on combating.

“We’re concerned about youth, and we are, VTA has always been,” Abboud continued. He confirmed that “video games, apps, and cartoon imagery” on vapes encompassed what the VTA would like to see regulated but would not comment on the association’s members selling such products, saying he was unsure if such a thing was happening.

Abboud said the FDA’s definition of an illicit vape, encompassing any product it has not specifically approved, was too narrow and, consequently, stifling U.S. commerce.

“The way to unleash investment in America is to address the root cause of the problem, which is Biden’s regulation,” he said.

The VTA’s links to Geek Vape and other Chinese manufacturers extend beyond direct payments and business engagements.

In late 2023, the VTA entered into an official partnership with the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce, an entity that operates under the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Civil Affairs and represents the interests of Chinese vape manufacturers.

Increased restrictions on flavored vapes came as large numbers of school-aged children were observed with nicotine addictions. As of 2024, 7.8% of high school students and 3.5% of middle schoolers, totaling 1.63 million minors, reported e-cigarette use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority of these children reported using flavored vapes. Disposable flavored vapes produce smoke that contains large concentrations of toxic metals, such as lead, and use has been linked to lung disease, cancer, and other ailments. Youth vape usage, however, has been declining since 2019.

Law enforcement agencies across the country have complained about the proliferation of illicit flavored vapes, citing concerns from parents and legally compliant vape stores that are forced to compete with shops that sell unapproved products.

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“The Vapor Technology Association represents the Chinese companies at the center of a massive smuggling ring that flooded our neighborhoods with dangerous, illegal products while Biden was asleep at the wheel,” a former health official who served during President Donald Trump’s first term and remains close to the administration told the Washington Examiner. “President Trump is making historic progress enforcing our trade laws, closing the border to cartels and smugglers, and putting American families first. Nobody in the administration trusts the VTA on enforcement issues.”

The VTA’s advertisements were focused on the Washington metropolitan area as part of a strategy “to target key decision-makers.” Ads were also run in markets covering Trump’s golf club in northern New Jersey, according to the organization. Its ad has accrued over 3 million views on X alone.